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MARAUDERS.
Chapter 50.
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Mattheo, Lorenzo and Frey know that if they leave the castle before the sun goes down then they're not breaking any rules. The Aurors don't mind letting Lorenzo and Frey out of the castle, but Mattheo still has to be smuggled out under a disillusionment charm.
Lorenzo and Frey walk either side of Mattheo until they reach the end of the wooden bridge.
"Ow, fucking hell" Lorenzo catches himself on a loose splinter of wood when he's running his hand along the railing. His skin tears open and blood drips all over the place.
"How'd you do that?" Frey asks.
Lorenzo shakes the sting away from his hand. "God likes to punish the people who enjoy the world too much. Gone are the days when a person can hold onto a fucking railing!" Lorenzo would set the bastard thing on fire if they didn't need it to get in and out of school.
"Lorenzo!" Mattheo isn't in the mood for his cheerful attitude. "Artemis has to be down there, or I'm out of fucking options" then he will have to resort to telling Mabel that Artemis is missing.
"Maybe you should have worried about Artemis earlier?" Lorenzo mutters under breath.
"What was that?!" Mattheo shouts at him.
"Nothing" Lorenzo shouldn't have said anything.
"No, go on. If you have something to say then say it!" Mattheo shouts at Lorenzo. He's already been screamed at by Tom, but he wasn't expecting Lorenzo to turn on him.
Lorenzo doesn't want to kick Mattheo when he's down. "Seriously, nothing" Lorenzo tries to laugh it off.
Lorenzo had told Mattheo to be honest with Artemis before the Summer Ball. Either Mattheo had to tell Artemis all of the secrets or he had to leave her alone. Mattheo chose to keep the secrets and date Artemis, and now it's all coming back to bite him in the arse.
"He said that you should have cared about Artemis before we started lying to her!" Frey isn't afraid of a little confrontation.
Mattheo looks between them both. "Don't you think that I know that now?! Don't you think I would have wanted to tell all of that myself?!" Mattheo snaps at both of them. "I didn't want Tom to be the one to tell her".
Frey winces at the waves of depression that are storming inside of Mattheo. She can control feeling emotions now she has her memories, but every now and then they still overwhelm her slightly.
Mattheo doesn't care what the two of them think.
Finding Artemis is what is important right now. Not their feelings.
"Come on" Mattheo pushes through the middle of Lorenzo and Frey. "If you're done!" Mattheo claps at them.
Lorenzo and Frey look at each other.
"I don't want to leave him alone. I think that he might be dangerous" Lorenzo tells Frey.
"That's an understatement" Frey says. One wrong move and Mattheo is going right off that deep end. Artemis is the only humanity that Mattheo has anymore, everything else has been eaten away by the dark magic inside of him.
The three students have nothing stopping them from getting to Hagrid's Hut. All of the security is in the castle or at the boarder of the grounds.
Mattheo is the one that knocks at the door.
Hagrid has been crying. His face is all puffy and red when they see him. Then when he spots the three of them he starts sobbing even harder. "Yeh shouldn've come" Hagrid wails when he sees them.
Hagrid pulls all three of them in for a bone crushing hug. Buckbeak's last day and they've broken the rules to come down and see him. To be with him.
Lorenzo and Frey were coming down to see Hagrid, and Mattheo tagged along.
No Artemis inside of the hut.
The state of the hut is a mess. Hagrid must have been beside himself for the past few days and not known what to do with himself. There is nothing more that he could have done to help Buckbeak.
"Hermione has bin in the library fer weeks tryin' te help ol' Buckbeak" Hagrid was touched at the Gryffindor students trying endlessly to help Buckbeak. "Even Draco Malfoy spoke te the Ministry committee to reverse the judgement. Lucius Malfoy's word is too powerful".
"Draco spoke to the Ministry? I didn't know that" Mattheo tells Hagrid. Draco has completely turned around these past months.
"Bin down here every night te sit with Buckbeak" Hagrid tells the students. "Guilty conscience I think" but Hagrid appreciated that Draco apologised and spoiled Buckbeak rotten these past few weeks.
"I was not seeing that coming" Lorenzo mutters. "Lucius Malfoy gets a sniff of influence and he twists it to make everyone's lives worse".
Lorenzo and Frey drop themselves onto the bench that overlooks the window. Mattheo stands vigil in the doorway of the hut, keeping an eye on the grounds for any sign of Artemis.
Hagrid sits at his table. His hands fidgeting.
"I'll make some tea" Frey mutters. "You need something to hold" Frey advises Hagrid. "You won't have to go through any of this alone, I promise you that" Frey puts her hand on Hagrid's shoulder.
"None of you are going to be here. I don't want you seeing anything like that" Hagrid is stern on that. Hagrid still sees them as children, yet they are familiar with seeing death. "It should be me making you tea, you're going through a lot yourself" Hagrid offers to Frey. "How are you coping?" Hagrid asks of Frey.
Frey smiles weakly.
She is dying inside. She lost the man she loves. But other things are more important than her grief at the moment.
"I'm fine" she lies.
Hagrid looks to Lorenzo. "And you?" He asks of Lorenzo.
"I'm not the one who lost someone" Lorenzo tells Hagrid. "My brother has been dead to me for a long time now. I don't see him as my little brother anymore. Only a monster that kills people" Lorenzo lost Maric a long time ago. They have never really been brothers.
"We can still stay?" Mattheo offers. "We have all seen worse. We don't want to leave you alone when-" but Mattheo cannot even say it. Mattheo looks out to where Buckbeak lies in the pumpkin patch.
"Professor Dumbledore is coming down to be with me. A great man, Dumbledore. He tried everything to help Buckbeak" but even Dumbledore's influence is pale compared to the shadow that Lucius Malfoy casts. "And speaking of helping pets. Lorenzo!" Hagrid gives Lorenzo a knowing look.
"What have I done?" Lorenzo squeaks back to Hagrid.
Hagrid reaches over to the biscuit tin that is on his counter. He opens it and retrieves the rat that is inside.
"Scabbers?! I hadn't even noticed that he was missing!" Lorenzo has been so caught up with his revision that he didn't notice that his rat wasn't in his dorm room.
"I'll bet that you didn't even-" Mattheo is starting to speak, but then a stone strikes him in the back of his head. "-motherfucker!" Mattheo shouts.
Another stone is hurled through the doorway, and it smashes the biscuit tin in the side. It makes a hell of a clatter as it topples over.
"What the hell is happening?!" Frey demands. Who is throwing stones at them?
Mattheo and Frey both peer out of the door to see who is assaulting the hut. But their attention drifts to the three figures coming down the path from the castle.
Professor Dumbledore.
Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.
And a man with a very large axe. Lorenzo recognises him as McNair, the executioner for the committee of magical beasts.
"They're coming" Mattheo offers to both of his friends.
"Yeh all need to get back to the castle. Yeh shouldn't be out, it's starting to get dark. Mattheo, you especially with Sirius Black" Hagrid shrieks at the students. "Everyone will be in trouble" Hagrid cannot have this night get any worse for them.
"Hagrid. We will go out of the back" Mattheo tells the man. "You'll be alright with Dumbledore here. He will look after you" Mattheo promises Hagrid. Hagrid keeps eying the door nervously, they don't have time for this now.
A loud banging comes at the door of the hut.
As Hagrid opens the door, the three students slowly slip out of the back door. As Dumbledore, Fudge and McNair enter, Mattheo, Frey and Lorenzo shimmy around the outer wall of the hut to stay out of sight.
"Come on. I don't want to see this-" Frey's voice is a little weak as she thinks that Buckbeak will be slaughtered any minute.
They start back up the path towards the school. "How did you even get out of my dorm?" Lorenzo asks of Scabbers. "The door was locked so no one could have been in to let you out. Unless you could open the door from the inside?" Lorenzo jokes with the rat as he holds it.
Lorenzo stops when the rat begins thrashing about wildly in his hands. "Scabbers. Stay. Put" but Lorenzo cannot keep his hands on the rat as it wriggles about in madness.
"Enzo. Get ahold of that thing before I kill it" Mattheo snarls over to Lorenzo.
"Scabbers. It's me. Lorenzo" and yet the rat does not calm down for one moment.
The rat bites down hard on Lorenzo's already blood-covered hand. "Little shit!" Lorenzo shouts out. But he has no choice but to release the rat because of the pain.
The rat dives into the grass. "I need to catch that rat, or Aunt Molly will have my kneecaps" Lorenzo tells Mattheo and Frey.
Lorenzo sets off at a run after the rat. "Enzo!" Mattheo and Frey shout after the goofy boy. Lorenzo running off into darkness can lead to nothing good.
"Fuuuuck!" Mattheo curses, and then he sprints after his friend, after the rat.
"Are we really chasing down a fucking rat?!" Frey calls after Mattheo and Lorenzo. "I think we have more important things to-!" but they don't stop to listen to her. "Fuck me" Frey then sets off at a run after the two boys.
The blades of grass being flattened is the only way that Lorenzo can tell which way that Scabbers is heading.
"He's heading to the Forbidden Forest!" Lorenzo cannot understand what is making Scabbers act this way.
Scabber won't ever be found if he makes it into the forest, and Lorenzo isn't willing to chase after Scabber into the spider filled trees.
Scabbers leaps up into the air to get over a cluster of rocks. "Immobulus" a voice calls out.
Scabbers freezes mid-leap in the air.
"What the-?" Lorenzo looks around to see who cast the spell. Only to see his own girlfriend slowly walking over to Scabbers. "-Hera?" Lorenzo laughs out. "Geez, you just saved my life by stopping that rat. Every Weasley has looked after it at one point, I wouldn't want to be the first to lose him. Again" Lorenzo's heart couldn't swell more when he sees Hera scooping up the rat.
Hera has to bite down the bile of betrayal that is rising up in her throat. "I'm sorry, Lorenzo. This has nothing to do with my feelings for you" Hera tells Lorenzo. "This was the only way" because Hera tried her hardest to get ahold of Scabbers without involving Lorenzo and the others.
"Hera?" Lorenzo asks.
Mattheo and Frey finally catch Lorenzo. "What the fuck are you doing out here?!" Mattheo shouts to Hera.
A growling sounds makes the three students freeze in spot.
Mattheo, Frey and Lorenzo all move around as a unit to see what is making such a sound behind them.
Only a massive black dog that is staring them down. Its teeth are bared. It's the size of a small horse. Shaggy black fur.
And it seems to want to kill.
*
Artemis walks around aimlessly around the grounds. She spent hours just sitting under the Viaduct to get some peace and quiet. To be alone with the haunting thoughts that are strangling at her.
Only when it starts to get dark over the grounds does she even realise how long she has been away. "Maybe he'll think I'm dead. That will serve him right" Artemis mutters to herself.
Artemis crosses her arms across her body. Not for warmth. Because she feels so exposed to everything and everyone at the moment. She cannot take another knife in the back from someone who calls themselves a friend.
"How the fuck do I tell Hera and Atlas?" Artemis cannot think of how they will react. Atlas will be cold, he and Artemis assumed for a long time that Amelia had died. Hera, she's the one that still holds out hope that they will get their parents back someday.
After everything that has happened between them, this is the position that Mattheo has put Artemis in.
Artemis is coming along the side of the wooden bridge when she spots a figure sneaking out of the castle.
Moving quickly.
"Hera?".
Artemis can recognise her little sister sneaking out of the castle at running speed.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Artemis mutters to herself. It's not like Hera to sneak out of the castle.
Artemis sets off following her sister. The grounds aren't safe at night. Not with all of the crazy things that have been happening lately.
Hera stops at the stone circle. She stands in the middle. "-they're out here tonight" Hera is speaking to someone. "I don't know when we're going to get another chance. I didn't want to do it this way either, but enough is enough. If he leaves Hogwarts we might lose him" Hera's voice is strained with worry.
Who is Hera talking about? Who is Hera talking to? Why does she sound so worried?
Artemis hides behind one of the larger stones to stay hidden from view.
A bark is the only response that Hera gets. "I know. I have to do it" Hera's voice is getting quieter. Hera is moving further into the grounds, further into the night, trotting along with a black dog.
"Wait?" Artemis asks.
It's the same black dog that Artemis looked after this summer. The one that mysteriously disappeared. Did Hera steal the dog and bring it to Hogwarts?
"What is going on Hera?".
Artemis keeps low as she follows her sister down the grounds. One way leads over to Hagrid's Hut, the other way will take them to the Whomping Willow.
Artemis follows Hera through the grass. "I'm sorry, Lorenzo. This has nothing to do with my feelings for you" and Hera has Scabbers in a vice grip on her hand. Her body is trembling with fear as she stares down Lorenzo. "This was the only way".
Lorenzo's eyes are wide open as he looks at Hera. "Hera?" His voice is filled with confusion and hurt.
Who could blame him?
What is Hera up to with Scabbers? Why does she look so distressed.
Mattheo and Frey appear out of the darkness, having to skid to a halt when they see Lorenzo has stopped.
Mattheo frowns when he sees Hera. "What the fuck are you doing out here?!".
Artemis never thought she could feel so much hatred at hearing a person's voice. But Mattheo's voice makes her feel a queasy sort of hatred. Like she's so angry and cannot do anything but shake with rage.
Then the dog stalks behind Lorenzo, Mattheo and Frey. It snarls out at them as a warning. It slowly creeps over to them.
The dog pounces up and bounds over to the three of them, and Artemis jumps up and rushes down to them.
"Hera!" Artemis screams out down to her little sister. What the fuck is going on? Why is Hera with a dog that wants to kill their friends?
Hera spins. "Depulso" and the spell hits Artemis' running body.
Artemis launches up into the air, landing on her head when she hits the ground. And everything goes dizzy.
"Artemis!" Hera only saw a charging figure. She didn't mean to attack her sister.
The dog hurtles at Mattheo, Lorenzo and Frey without any signs of slowing down.
The dog leaps and lands right atop of Mattheo, its weight driving him straight down to the ground. "Get the fuck off! Kudjo!" Mattheo tries to push the dog off of his body.
The dog spins and knocks Frey and Lorenzo backwards.
Frey rolls down the grassy banking a little bit. She is unable to catch herself against anything to stop her body from sliding.
Lorenzo lands flat on his arse, but is straight back up on his feet to help Mattheo.
Lorenzo pulls out his wand and is about to curse the dog that is attacking them. Lorenzo isn't getting the usual animal vibes from this beast, so it could be of dark magic.
"Expelliarmus" Hera blasts Lorenzo's wand from his hand.
"Fuck!" Lorenzo's hand starts bleeding again. "Hera! What the fuck are you doing?!" Lorenzo demands of the girl.
"Stay out of the way, Lorenzo. This is your last warning" Hera has her wand pointed right at Lorenzo.
Lorenzo looks at her in horror. Would she attack her own boyfriend? Is that how far she's willing to go just to get that rat?
Hera's hand shakes a little bit. She cannot stand seeing that betrayal in Lorenzo's eyes. He doesn't understand it now, but he will once all of this is over.
The dog leaps from Mattheo, charging at the back of Lorenzo's legs. Sending him rolling over the dog's body and onto the grass again.
Artemis pushes herself up to see Hera just before she slips under the Whomping Willow tree. There is a small gap between the roots of the magical tree.
"Hera?!" Artemis screams after her sister. What the fuck is going on?! What the fuck is Hera doing?!
Yet Hera is already gone.
Artemis pushes through the headache that she is feeling, because her little sister is in danger. And her pain doesn't matter at this moment in time.
Artemis only gets a few yards before a large wooden branch smashes the ground right in front of her feet.
"Bells?!" Mattheo's voice screams out to her.
Lorenzo and Mattheo push themselves up and rush to get to the killer tree that Hera went underneath.
Mattheo grabs Artemis on her shoulders and pulls Artemis back from the tree branch whipping up into her face.
Lorenzo and Mattheo grab a shoulder each to keep her steady.
The whole tree comes to life before their eyes. Every branch, limb and tendril seems to wake up all at once. Concerned only with repelling the threat that has come across its boundary.
Artemis shrugs Mattheo's hands from her body. "Get the fuck off of me!" She shouts to Mattheo. She doesn't look at him - she doesn't want to be sickened by that false angelic face that he puts on.
"Bells-?" Mattheo doesn't touch her again. "-I think that we need to talk".
"So you can fucking lie to me again?!" Artemis demands of Mattheo. "All year you have spouted nothing but lies to me. And I feel sick even being near you. You fucking pig!" Artemis feels disgusting. She feels disgusting that she slept with this boy, or loved this boy, or told any of her secrets to this boy.
"Guys!" Lorenzo shouts with worry.
"And you!" She then wheel on Lorenzo. "I was by your side when you turned into a fucking werewolf. When my grandparents thought of you as nothing more than a mangy mutt that landed a girl way above his class. And you kept this a secret from me?!" Artemis demands of Lorenzo.
Lorenzo's eyes are wide with fear. He is just scared of angry Bellator women. They're strong and scary.
"I-Urm-" Lorenzo doesn't have any excuse for what he did to Artemis. "I'm sorry" Lorenzo tells her. "I thought that I was-" and Lorenzo tries to reach out for her hand, but she moves it away from him.
Lorenzo pushes Artemis away from him, a thick vine tendril lands at the ground between them.
"This isn't his fault. It's mine" Mattheo tells Artemis. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to lose you when you found out about my father!" Mattheo shouts over to Artemis.
The vine whips around and all three of them have to duck to avoid being lashed by it.
"Don't you dare fucking put this on me, Mattheo Riddle!" Artemis screams at Mattheo. "You're a fucking coward. I don't care who your fucking parents are, that doesn't make you bad like he is" Artemis tells Mattheo. "Lying about my fucking mother does make you slime!" Artemis bellows at Mattheo.
"I was scared".
"Because you kept so many secrets, and you were scared I would find them out".
"It was more than that".
"I don't care what it was, Mattheo. You know how much that my mother means to me. You know because you're the one that stole that diary from me in first year. And you knew that she was dead and you didn't tell me!".
"I didn't want to hurt you".
"That's not your choice to make".
Artemis cannot understand how Mattheo thinks that is his choice to make.
"It's my choice not to put you into a depression. We were barely talking, and then we were...".
"...when you lied to me so I would fuck you?!".
Mattheo and Artemis jump apart when another club of wood smashes the ground.
"Do you two have to do this now?!" Lorenzo screams at them.
Frey hikes her way back up to the top of the banking. She sees all of the tree limbs flailing about, and that they're trying to kill Mattheo, Artemis and Lorenzo.
"Fuck this shit!" Frey has a faster way to get through the tree limbs. "Magical feet, don't fail me now" Frey uses her movement magic on her feet, and she leaps across the grounds in long bounds.
Frey rushes past her three friends, and she drops into a long slide that takes her right under the tree limbs.
Frey reaches the gap under the tree roots. "Get ready to run!" Frey shouts back to her friends.
Frey raises both of her hands, and chains of her yellow magic form to bind the tree limbs together so they can't fly all over the place.
The others don't hesitate and they cross the boundary and run to the tree trunk.
Artemis throws herself down the gap first. Then Mattheo. Lorenzo. And Frey slips through while she still holds her magic in place. Only dropping her spell when they're all in the stone passage under the tree.
"Anyone have any clue about what has gotten into Little Bellator?" Frey asks all of her friends. "It's not like her to go around attacking people" Frey notes. Or work with a big fucking black dog.
Artemis doesn't say anything to them, she just starts walking down the passageway.
"Not going well?" Frey wonders.
"Not at all" Mattheo feels an itch in his brain. Like he's nothing but trash for what he did to Artemis.
"I don't give a shit about your relationship problems right now!" Lorenzo shouts at Mattheo. "Hera is in trouble. Not everything is about you!" Lorenzo screams at Mattheo.
"I get that" Mattheo mutters.
"Do you?!" Lorenzo demands of him.
"Of course I do".
That twinge hits him again. Now Lorenzo doesn't trust him either? Two of the people he is closest with in the world seem to fucking hate him.
"Not now!" Lorenzo scolds him.
Lorenzo jogs to catch up with Artemis.
Mattheo is about to speak to Frey to defend himself. "He's just worried about Hera, don't take it to mean anything serious" Frey advises Mattheo. "He doesn't hate you, he loves you like a brother".
Mattheo doesn't feel like it at the moment.
*
This tunnel runs underground for miles. Water drips through from the muddy tunnel above them, probably from the rainfall a few days ago. Someone must have gone through a lot of effort to dig out this tunnel, and put down the stone slabs that make a rickety path.
Artemis keeps her eyes peeled for any signs of where Hera or the black dog might have gone to. This tunnel must end somewhere.
The light of her wand casts a few shadows that make Artemis jump to action.
The faster she finds her sister, smacks some sense into Hera, then the faster that Artemis can drag Hera back to Hogwarts. Then she can get away from Mattheo, Lorenzo and Frey.
Mattheo and Lorenzo have already tried to apologise to Artemis, with no success. Now it's time for the best friend to try.
"Artemis? Slow down" Frey jogs to catch up with Artemis. Artemis doesn't reply to Frey's words, she just keeps on walking away. "Hey!" Frey shouts out to Artemis.
"Go away!" Artemis snarls back at her.
"Come on" Frey shouts at her.
"Come on fucking nothing!" Artemis stops and turns to look at Frey. Her brow crossed in anger. "You of all people should understand how this lie feels. You spent years not knowing anything about your parents, and I fucking helped you to look for them" Artemis tells Frey.
"It wasn't to hurt you Artemis" Frey tells her best friend. "We just didn't know what it was going to do to you. Actually knowing your parents are dead is different than wondering. You idolise your mother and we were scared of what might happen if you knew for sure she was dead".
"You justify however you want to you traitorous bitch" Artemis tells her. "They hurt me-" and she points her wand at Mattheo and Lorenzo. "but you-" tears start to form in Artemis' eyes. "-you're supposed to have my back through everything. And you didn't. I sat with you and cried with you when Caleb died. You were broken and I helped you get your memory back. I looked past that you were trying to fucking kill me for months before Hogwarts. And you just still continue to lie to me" Artemis' words are blubby with stifled sobs.
"I am here for you" Frey tells Artemis.
"No, you're not" Artemis shakes her head back at Frey. "I have had the worst day of my life. Because today I learned that all of the people that I trusted the most have lied to me about the person who I held most dear in my mind" Artemis tells them all. "You three are NOT my friends. You lied to me like my grandparents. Like Atlas. Like everyone. I thought I could trust all of you".
"You can" Lorenzo says. He's on the verge of tears himself. Frey already is. Mattheo feels numb to what Artemis is saying, his heart has been hurting all afternoon.
"No I can't" she scoffs/cries.
"Bells...Artemis. This is my fault, I asked them to lie for me. I was scared to tell you about my father. I was scared to lose you" Mattheo tries to walk closer to her.
"You already have" Artemis tells him. And his heart explodes. "I look at you now and I feel nothing but hatred for you, Mattheo Riddle" Artemis tells him. "My three best friends...and I hate you all" Artemis tells them all.
Frey can feel that she really means that. Any love that was once felt for them is long gone. And her feelings for Mattheo are just a black hole inside of Artemis' chest now.
Artemis wipes harshly with the sleeves of her robes. "Just...don't talk to me" and she turns away from them.
There is silence as they reach the end of the tunnel, and the stone slabs turn into what feels to be rotted wooden steps beneath their feet.
"Anyone have any idea of where we are?" Lorenzo asks of the group. No one feels like talking after what was just said between them.
"I have a hunch" Mattheo says. The light from his voice is gone. He sounds numb.
The girl he loves wants nothing to do with him. There is only hatred between them now. Mattheo loves Artemis and she regrets ever meeting him.
Artemis lowers her wand. There is a combination of muddy shoe prints and wet paw prints on the wood of the steps. "That's Hera's size" Artemis says. "This is the place" and Artemis wants some answers from her sister.
Artemis hesitantly steps onto the wooden staircase. Then whole place looks rotten. A small and tight wooden staircase leads upwards. The walls are all wooden as well, and they're covered with deep claw marks, made from something powerful and angry.
No one has lived in this place for a very long time.
The wood squeaks under the weight of Artemis' boot. It's not going to stop her from turning back. Hera knows that Artemis would have come after her, so they're expected.
"That didn't even seem like Hera" Lorenzo didn't recognise that girl. "I don't understand what she would want with Scabbers or why she would bring him here of all places" how does Hera even know that this place exists.
"When we find her then we can ask her" Frey tells Lorenzo.
All four of them want some answers as to what happened with Hera this evening.
Artemis isn't standing around and wondering about what is going on in Hera's head. Artemis wants answers and to drag Hera back to the safety of the castle.
Artemis starts ascending up the wooden steps of the place. Her wand illuminates over the old portraits, they're worn and the frames are buckling from the rot of the place.
"We're in the Shrieking Shack" Mattheo decides. The most haunted building in all of Britain, according to the plaque outside the shack. "We looked at this place, remember?" Mattheo asks of Artemis.
Artemis doesn't say anything back to Mattheo.
The sound of a door rocking loosely against its hinges makes all four of them jump. Then the sound happens again.
"A draft?" Lorenzo suggests.
They continue up slowly.
"-they're going to be here soon. If you want to do this then it has to be now!" Hera screams desperately to someone. Her voice echoes through the shack. "Please don't make me choose between protecting you and protecting Artemis?!" Hera begs.
"I will not put you in that position" a male voice replies to Hera. And the four of them freeze when they hear the voice. "Your help these past few months have meant more to me than you can ever know. I love you Hera" the voice tells Hera.
Lorenzo feels sick. "She's cheating on me?" Lorenzo feels his heart drop into his stomach.
"That's not what is important right now" Mattheo tells Lorenzo, but he still puts his hand on Lorenzo's shoulder and gives him a reassuring squeeze.
"Then let it be over and done with" Hera begs of the man. "This is the proof that we need, if only you can break the enchantment".
"I haven't recovered my magical abilities yet. You may have to do it. It's a powerful spell".
"I don't think that I know how. We may need some help to do this?" Hera suggests to the man. "Artemis is a lot stronger than me with her magic, maybe she will help us when she gets here?" Hera suggests.
"I cannot take that chance. I wouldn't want to put your sister in that position. It is bad enough that I have dragged you into my mess".
"Of course I was going to help you. Of course Artemis will help you" Hera seems so sure of herself.
"This type of magic is something that you have never learned before, and something that...maybe...is too much to expect of you" the male's voice falters. "It can be dangerous to draw so much power if you aren't ready".
Artemis will not have some mad man put her sister in danger with what could be dark magic. If this magic is so unstable, then Artemis won't give Hera the chance to try and fail. She may hurt herself.
Artemis sets off at a run up the shack. The footprints lead to a broken door to the left. And one good kick from Artemis knocks the door completely off its hinges.
Hera yelps out as the door skids across the floor. Artemis and the others had gotten past the Whomping Willow much faster than Hera expected.
"Hera?!" Artemis runs over to her sister and grabs her by the arm. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?! Running off with some mad man?! Are you completely out of your fucking mind?!" Artemis screams at Hera.
"A-Artemis?" Lorenzo's voice stutters out in fear to Artemis.
Artemis looks around to see what has made Lorenzo so scared. All three of her friends have their wands pointed at a figure in the back of the room.
Even though Hera has cleaned him up a little bit, he is still a mess from so many years without sunlight or company. So many years having every ounce of happiness drained from his body. So many years without seeing his three children, whom he loves beyond measure.
"Little Dove?" Lorenzo looks over to Hera. "What have you done?" Lorenzo knows the person that steps out from the shadows.
He has the most famous face in the whole of the wizarding world at the moment. Almost a celebrity in a dark and twisted way.
Mattheo feels his anger surge up as he looks at the man that betrayed his parents to Voldemort. The one who gave their secret location to Voldemort. The man who is responsible for Alfie Carrow's death.
"Sirius Black?" Frey gasps.
All of them raise their wands at Sirius all at once. He doesn't flinch even for a moment. If he is to die tonight then he knows that Hera will make sure the mission is carried out to completion.
Hera jumps past Artemis and stands between them and Sirius. She puts her arms up to stop them.
"Wait, don't do it!" Hera shouts at all of them. She cannot let a fight happen when they don't have all of the information.
"Heradonia!" Sirius scolds the girl.
"Pardon?" Artemis scoffs. No one ever calls Hera that. It has been a sore point in the family history. Atlas and Artemis were both named with the traditional 'A' starting names. Yet Hera, named by their father, is the first to break tradition.
"Artemis, please don't do this?" Hera begs of her sister. "You don't understand what is going on here. You don't know the full story. You don't know who he is" Hera shouts out desperately to Artemis.
"I know who he is" Artemis shouts at Hera. "What I don't fucking know is why you're here helping a fucking prisoner? Do you know what they're going to do to you when they find out you've been here with him?" Artemis screams at her sister.
"Because you don't understand!" Hera screams back at Artemis. Hera is crying now. She doesn't want a fight to break out between Sirius and Artemis.
"Then fucking tell me!" Artemis screams back to Hera. "What is so important that you would help the man trying to kill Mattheo? Why is this man so important to you that you attack your sister, your boyfriend?!" Artemis shouts back.
"He's our father!".
And the truth hangs out there like a staleness on the air.